11:41:00

Reading boss Steve Clarke has preparation issues for Rotherham clash

Reading boss Steve Clarke
admits preparations for Tuesday’s clash at Rotherham have been hampered by
events in South Yorkshire.

The Millers are beginning
life under Neil Redfearn following the exit of Steve Evans and that means
scouting opportunities have been limited to Redfearn’s first game in charge at
Brentford on Saturday.

Clarke, who has overseen a
turnaround in Berkshire after the Royals flirted with relegation last season,
will base his preparations on the game at Griffin Park and hope the Millers set
up in a similar way.

He said: “Preparation-wise, it’s going
to be slightly different. Neil has just gone in there and we’ll have a
look at what they did at Brentford and how they played and set up.

“We’ll
work from that game.

“Rotherham will be a good test for the squad.

“We
are a little bit stretched with injuries at the moment but you saw against
Charlton that the quality I can bring into the team is excellent.

“Hopefully
we can go to Rotherham and keep our run going.”

The Royals will arrive in South Yorkshire in third place in the Sky Bet
Championship having won seven out of eight games and confidence is
understandably high.

And as a result Clarke believes the result at
New York Stadium depends on how his side perform.

“Really it’s all about us,” he added.

“We
know what we can do and how we’re going to play, and if we can do that to the
best of our ability, then hopefully we can bring back some more points.”